Stock Futures Set To Drop as Investors Digest Disappointing Jobs Data

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are off to a rocky start this morning, extending yesterday’s retreat and pacing for a roughly 54-point drop, although positive news from AstraZeneca (AZN) is keeping some of these earlier losses in check. The company announced its COVID-19 vaccine candidate triggered a comparable immune response in a study of 560 healthy adults. Futures on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) are also poised for a day in the red, as Wall Street continues to keep its eye on a bleak growth in coronavirus cases, and nation-wide closures due to the pandemic. Also weighing heavy is higher-than-expected jobless claims, which totaled 742,000 for the week.

Continue reading for more on today's market, including:

• Why Nio stock scored a post-earnings upgrade.
• Bull signal flashing for outperforming clean energy stock.
• Plus, Macy's stock drops despite earnings beat; AstraZeneca vaccine candidate enters late-stage trials; and Starbucks employees get a raise.

5 Things You Need to Know Today

1. The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.9 million call contracts traded on Wednesday, and 839,060 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio dropped to 0.42 and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.50. 
2.  Macy's Inc (NYSE:M) is down 4.9% in pre-market trading, despite the retail giant posting better-than-expected third-quarter losses and a revenue beat. The company attributed the lackluster results to a 20.2% drop in same-store sales. For 2020, M is down 47.1%.
3. AstraZeneca plc (NASDAQ:AZN) is up 0.6% before the bell, after the biotech said its vaccine candidate, which is being developed in partnership with Oxford University, had a strong immune response in older adults. The company added it is conducting late-stage trials to confirm those findings. Year-over-year, AZN is up 13.3%.     
4. The shares of Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) are down 0.3% in electronic trading, after the coffee chain said it would raise U.S. employees' salaries by at least 10% starting Dec. 14, and hike starting pay to attract new workers. In the last six months, SBUX has gained 25.9%.
5. Plenty of economic data is due today, including the Philly Fed index and existing home sales. Also set to be reported on is last month's leading economic indicators.

European Markets Drop Amid Talks of Additional Shutdowns

Stocks in Asia finished Thursday a mixed bag, as investors weighed their optimism about a potential COVID-19 vaccine with worries concerning economic shutdowns and recovery. China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.5%, while South Korea’s Kospi closed marginally higher, ending today up 0.07%. Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.4% after the country reported over 2,000 new coronavirus cases yesterday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended the session 0.7% lower.

In Europe, stock fell amid fears surrounding the possibility of additional shutdowns due to rising coronavirus cases. Moreover, a vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca was shown to be safe, but failed to lift investor sentiment. As a result, the German DAX and London’s FTSE 100 were both last seen down 0.7%. Rounding out the region, France’s CAC 40 has so far shed 0.6%.